Everything's not lost
by Angel Oscura
Summary: An little angel is found, the team of CSI have a long night, especially one of them. Sara has had her fair share of these kind of cases. Eventually might be snickers.


**_L.i.t.t.l.e. N.o.t.e.: It is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction of CSI: LV. I love the characters, but they don't belong to me! Boo hoo. _ **

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_Everything's not lost_

chapter 1: The Angel Found in the Night

It had been a long night, a hard shift and a very disturbing case. Sometimes being a CSI could make you feel so powerless and every time you felt that emotion, you would simply deny it. Nobody likes to feel powerless, to feel like there is nothing you can do for the ones you care about, the ones that you love. It had been one of those nights where you truly felt like no matter the evidence that you find: the case was still unresolved. Why? In the end, when you have found the bad guy, it is still unfair for the victim. An act violence that lead to a murder of another young innocent victim was one too many for the investigators of the night shift.

That evening, a little boy had been found dead in an alley behind some miserable restaurant. He was only 10 years of age; we couldn't see any wound at first. His blond hair and his features made him look like an angel in the darkness of Sin City. The person who found him thought he was sleeping, as he approached the boy he received no answer.

'Little guy, what are you doing here? Its 2 o'clock in the morning.'

'Hey are you-' the man soon stopped and understood that the little angel was dead. He soon dialled 9-1-1 and then the team arrived. Greg and Sara were assigned to the case, the experienced CSI immediately put herself to work, trying to be unaffected by the scene.

* * *

She was looking at every piece of evidence that Greg had collected and at the pictures she had taken several hours earlier. Her were hands massaging her temples as she tried to concentrate and forget this never ending headache. It was hurting since she woke up; even her hangovers didn't give that much pain the morning after. She needed caffeine in her bloodstream, so she decided to go to the break room. She walked like a zombie through the hallway and made her way to the coffee machine of dreams. She let out a long sighed as she poured herself a hot cup of coffee. 

'Somebody is caffeine deprived.' commented one of her long-time coworkers. As she turned around to face him, he talked again. 'And also sleep deprived.' chuckled the man before her.

Normally she would have giving her colleague the look where there was no use of words; her facial feature could express what she wanted to say. But at this instant, her eyes were dimmed and she didn't have the energy. He received no answer from her, no fight back retort.

'Are you okay?' asked the co-worker, slightly worried. The tall brunette let out an 'I'm fine' reply and left the room as fast as she entered it, avoiding eye contact. Sara Sidle was like a ghost of flesh and bones.

She sped back to the evidence room with her coffee in hand ready to connect the dots. As she sat back on her uncomfortable chair, she took another look at her case. She looked at the pictures again; she was waiting for Dr. Robbins to page her. She felt her page vibrate against her hip; she soon got up again and walked fast to the autopsy room. Greg walked along with her, surprisingly he hadn't mention anything to her, he was awkwardly silent that evening. As soon as she entered the room, she felt weird. She saw the little boy on the table, she felt instantly bad like she had a sharp knife in her stomach.

Dr. Robbins looked saddened by the expression on the investigators features. They were both very grim. As they approached the table, the corpse, the victim, the child, Sara started to shake. She didn't know why she was feeling the way.

'Sara, are you okay?' asked the old man. He had never seen her like that; it has been a few months that Sara had become distant with everyone in the team. It was the first time in many cases that he saw her starting to break. The woman's hand softly caressed the angel's hair.

'Little angel' whispered Sara. Not hearing Dr. Robbins question. Then should looked up at him.

'I'm fine' simply replied Sara. Those were the only words the she could say to her coworker's theses days. 'I'm just- I- Greg just bring me the autopsy report. Okay?' she waited after the man to answer.

'Okay but what's wrong?' asked the confused young man. Unfortunately he wouldn't have an answer because she had already left.

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Sara had decided to pull a double-shift. She wanted to solve the case, and then, the mother of the victim arrived. She felt fire in her stomach. Captain Brass had paged her for the interrogation; it would be a very rough one. Minutes later, Sara stormed out of the room, royally fuming and she was soon followed by Captain Brass. 

'Sara can you tell me what the hell is going on with you?' asked Jim Brass exasperated at the woman's attitude, he knew she could be blunt with the suspects but never had he seen her react like that toward a family member of a victim. Sure, usually she would contain her opinions, but tonight it was entirely different.

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News in the crime lab traveled fast in the establishment. Grissom had heard that one of his CSI's wasn't doing well. He paged the person in question. As she sat in front of him, he took off his glasses. 

'Sara, you are released from the case for today. I suggest that you rest for a while. The lab needs you, but right now, you should rest.' said Grissom as he passed his hand in his hair. She looked up at him. She made eye contact with him and defied him to continue.

'Why?' asked the woman with a dry voice.

'You know why.'

"Because I take it personally.' stated Sara. She wasn't mad, she was furious. 'That won't interfere with the case.'

'You yelled at Mrs. Gibson, the mother of the victim during the interrogation.'

'Who would leave their child alone like that?!?' asked Sara, her voice rising. She got up and took a few steps to her boss's desk. She rested her hands on the desk and looked straight at his face. She was angry, infuriated, and mostly hurt. 'She is a drug addict! She left him alone in the street and thought that he would be safe! What kind of mother would do that?!?' as she yelled, the tears were forming in her eyes. She let out a sigh and turned her back on him, crossing her arms.

'You have no right to-

'Maybe, but she had no right to be a mother then! There is no point in arguing with you anyway, you never grow tired of those kinds of cases anyway!' yelled the woman turning back to face him, so loud that the team was in from of the office. 'It's good for the reputation-

'Don't finish that sentence Sara. You are tired and-' said Grissom with a calm voice, trying to control the situation and he got interrupted again.

'I don't care if I need some sleep! I don't want to sleep Grissom and leave this case behind!' her eyes were pleading and hurt. He hated having to suspend her for that, but he had no choice. He had to follow the rules.

'Right now, it is not about want you want; it is about the lab-

'Screw the lab! It is always the lab! I'm tired of being patronized all the time; I know how to do my job.'

'It was never brought to question Sara, but your focus is not on the case its on-

'Don't you dare talk about me right now!!! You know nothing about me! You have no right to bring this on Me.' said Sara, even more hurt at the thoughts of her childhood resurfacing.

'You leave me no choice, you are suspended for-

'Yeah, I'm sorry because unlike you I lack the capacity to bottle up my emotions.' said bitterly the young woman in front of him. Grissom wasn't mad at her, he knew she was angry and he couldn't hold that against her. Sara just left him and walked out of his office. She left behind her an already forgiving boss and a bunch of very stunned coworkers.

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She was in the locker room, changing in another shirt. She let out a sigh; she had just taken a big bite out of her boss's head. She snorted at the thought. She never had an easy temper with people, but all the cases with kids got to her. They got to her really deep all the time, today it was the first time that she had truly expressed what it could do to her. Normally, she would simply be mad but today it was too much for her to bear, to contain. She had been thrown off the case, literally. She sat on the bench in front of her locker and rested her head between her hands, allowing herself to feel this depressing emotion that was clouding over her for several months. She forced herself not to cry, she didn't want to cry in this room and at her workplace. She hated to be so weak and so emotional. 

'Sara? You in here?' asked a man entering the room with his hands in the air. She looked up at him puzzled at his gesture.

'Well, I'm just trying to be careful with you. I wouldn't like you to bite my head off right now.' slightly joked Nick Stokes as he sat next to her. She didn't move away from him. He put a warm hand on her shoulder. He was always the one talking; he never had a straight answer with Sara. Even tough it was annoying him, most of the time; he knew that his friend wasn't going too well. It had been months since they had a real conversation. She was always avoiding everyone in the team, she never talked about herself. She hadn't always been like that, before she would flirt and be sarcastic around them, but things had changed. He didn't know why, but it was for the worse.

'Sara, talk to me.' said Nick with a worried look in his eyes. She looked back into his, and she stared back at her hands. Nick grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to look at him. She was startled at first, and then she tried to push him away from her. His grip held even firmer in the woman in front of him. 'Why are you like that?' asked Nick, trying to read her emotions.

'I need- don't you have a case to work on?'

Nick sighed. He brought his face closer to hers. He had never been so close to Sara like that, but he needed her to understand that he was there for her. He had asked Grissom to take care of Sara, since he had worked that evening on filling reports about his case.

'Forget that Sara. Right now, you are my case. I want to know what is going on with you. C'mon I'll give you a ride home.' said Nick giving her a warm smile.

For a moment, her heart felt lighter and warmer. She could always count on Nick to bring light into her life. She slowly nodded and Nick's smile grew wider. Nick didn't know why he was so glad that she had accepted.

'I just need to change first.' said Sara unemotionally, she was still distant. She didn't want to let her feelings show. The man looked at her quizzically. He thought she was okay the way she was dressed.

'It's normal for you not to notice, but I've been wearing this shirt for at least 24 hours. I want to put on a clean one' said Sara, giving him a small smile with her hands pointing her shirt. He sincerely didn't notice. The gentleman in him made him turn around; he didn't want his colleague to feel uncomfortable undressing herself in front of him.

Sara had a smile on her face; she thought the gesture was so like Nick. Then her expression changed, she had missed him. She had missed talking to him very badly these past few months.

'You can turn around now.'

'I just-

'Nicky it's okay, you are such a gentleman.'

As he heard her say that, he smiled to himself. It had been a long time since she had called him that and since she had joked about him and his good manners. Maybe the Sara he knew would come back to him earlier than he had imagined.

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I know, maybe Sara blew out of proportion, but what do you want, sometimes people have a hard time keeping everything under control.

Ok, I think you know about the concept of reviews? Right? I'd love to know what you thought about it...really...honestly...espicially if its a good review!!!

**_Angel Oscura_**


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